The best things in life are free... and easy

Sunday, noon.

Two hungry people.

Fresh bread from our neighborhood bakery.

Fresh baby spinach in the fridge, fresh broccolini, lots of feta, and just a small piece of Parmesan.






When hunger strikes, creativity ensues.

Quick lunch, inspired by the Greek spanakopita (for which a recipe is coming really soon, I promise).

Tartines aka open-faced sandwiches.

Spinach, feta, dill, spring onion.

Broccolini, parmesan, black pepper.

Greek extra virgin olive oil poured over both.






Sunday, afternoon.

Two full, utterly satisfied and very happy people.










Spinach and Feta Tartines

You can use wild instead of baby spinach but I would advise you to use just the leaves and to blanch them, as they tend to be a little tough.
Use any kind of fresh bread you have on hand but please don't use white sliced sandwich bread.
I used white sourdough and multigrain bread.






Yield: enough for 2 people

Ingredients
2 large and thick slices of country bread
A couple of handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1 spring onion, sliced
A handful of dill leaves, chopped
Feta cheese, crumbled
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil


Preparation
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Toast the bread for about 7 minutes until it becomes crunchy.

Rinse the spinach under cold running water and pat it dry with some paper towels.
Arrange the spinach leaves on top of the toasted bread.

Mix together the sliced spring onion, the chopped dill and the crumbed feta, and place the mixture over the spinach.
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and drizzle some olive oil on top.









Broccolini and Parmesan Tartines

Broccolini (or bimi in Dutch) is extremely popular in The Netherlands and is swiftly becoming one of my favorite spring vegetables. If your broccolini is very delicate and tender, you don't need to blanch it like I did.
You can substitute with purple sprouting broccoli (scheutjesbroccoli in Dutch).






Yield: enough for 2 people

Ingredients
2 large and thick slices of country bread
8-10 broccolini, trimmed
Parmesan cheese, shaved
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil


Preparation
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Toast the bread for about 7 minutes until it becomes crunchy.

Fill a medium-sized saucepan with water by 2/3, and bring it to the boil over high heat. Rinse the broccolini under cold running water and drop them in the boiling water. Blanch them for 2-3 minutes, empty them in a colander and rinse them under cold running water. Pat them dry with some paper towels.

Arrange the broccolini on top of the toasted bread and sprinkle with a little salt. Place the shaved Parmesan on top, sprinkle with a little black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

The remains of the day

What I love about Greek tsoureki, besides it being the most delicious sweet bread there is, is all the things I can do with it.






The simplest thing to do is slather it with a decent, or better yet obscene amount of butter and my favorite jam, which is and will always be strawberry.




Make French toast, of course, where all you need to do is dip your stale tsoureki slices in a mix of eggs and milk, fry them in butter, pour honey all over them and finish them off with a good sprinkling of cinnamon.






And then there's this dish. The tsoureki bread and butter pudding; the ultimate option.
I have to be honest. This dessert is all very new to me. It's not typical in Greek cuisine and certainly not something my grandmother would make the day after Easter but, when I gave it a try, I just couldn't believe how incredible it was.






You take your stale tsoureki, still fragrant and full of promise, you slice it and arrange it on a well-buttered baking dish. You prepare a rich custard, eight egg yolks mind you, you pour it all over the tsoureki and you top the whole thing off with fresh strawberries, dried currants and demerara sugar.






I guarantee your mouth will water even before the dish is out of the oven. The intoxicating aromas of the vanilla, the strawberries and the mahlepi in the tsoureki will penetrate your nostrils and you'll be filled with anticipation for what you're about to taste. And once you do, you will certainly be amazed.






Amazed by the luscious texture and flavor of the tsoureki, the juiciness of the sweet strawberries, the soft and gooey bottom of the pudding and the beautifully crusty, caramelized top. You'll want to eat more than you can handle which is only natural but you'll have to control yourself. It's a rich dessert, I don't want you to regret it afterwards. Then again, well, we only live once, right?












Tsoureki Bread and Butter Pudding with Strawberries, Vanilla and Currants
Adapted from Donna Hay

My Politiko tsoureki is ideal for bread and butter pudding simply because it ages well. It retains its structure when it gets stale and has a well-browned crust and robust crumb.
You can substitute of course with other types of sweet bread like brioche or challah.

Instead of vanilla extract, I used vanilla bean paste which is my new find. What an amazing flavor it has! If you haven't tasted it before, the time is now. Buy a jar, you won't regret it. It is vanilla flavor x 2.

I love using demerara sugar (like in this dessert) because it has such a deep flavor but you can also use caster sugar.






Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients
30 g unsalted butter
15-17 slices of stale tsoureki (or any other sweet bread)
620 ml cream, 35% fat
500 ml fresh, whole milk
8 medium-sized egg yolks
110 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
600 g fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half lengthwise
40 g dried currants (I used Black Corinth)
20 g demerara sugar (or caster sugar), for sprinkling over the top before baking

A little caster sugar for sprinkling over the top after baking

Special equipment: large baking dish with a 2-2.5 liter capacity


Preparation
Grease the baking dish well with the butter. Arrange the tsoureki slices in the baking dish in such a way so that one slice leans on the other.

In a large saucepan, add the cream and milk and stir to combine. Heat over medium-high heat until it starts to steam. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. You need it to be warm and not hot.

In a large bowl, add the egg yolks, the caster sugar and the vanilla bean paste or extract and whisk until well combined.


Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Pour the warm cream mixture in the egg mixture very slowly, whisking quickly and continuously, being careful not to scramble your eggs. Pour the custard over the tsoureki slices, making sure you pour it over every single slice and not in the middle of the dish.
Add the currants and the sliced strawberries on top. Sprinkle with the demerara (or caster) sugar and place the baking dish on the middle rack of the oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top has taken on a golden brown color.


Remove the baking dish from the oven and allow the pudding to cool slightly. Sprinkle the top with a little caster sugar, serve it in individual plates and eat it while it's warm from the oven.
I also like it the following day, at room temperature, but I wouldn't advise you to keep it longer than one day.

Eggs, eggs, eggs

Today was the second day of Easter and my fridge was full of eggs. I had no idea what to do with them.






I'm not a fan of eggs. They're not my favorite food in the world, to say the least. Especially hard-boiled eggs.






The only way I can bring myself to eat a hard-boiled egg is if I camouflage it. Take the egg yolk out of the egg white, mix it with a number of delicious ingredients and then spoon it back in. Now, that I can handle.






I know, I'm difficult. But this is not. These deviled eggs with avocado, crème fraîche and salmon roe are simply delicious.
I was a happy little picky eater today.






So, dear reader, if you have some Easter (or other) eggs on hand, give this a try.

See you very soon!






P.S. I think I ate too many of these. I should've known better.
Be warned. They're addictive.










Deviled Eggs with Avocado, Crème Fraîche and Salmon Roe

The combination of the egg yolk, the avocado and the crème fraîche is extremely pleasing to the palate, and the gentle saltiness of the salmon roe on top works really well against the dull richness of the egg.

Needless to say, these eggs are perfect for a dinner party, served as an appetizer or amuse bouche. There, I said it.

Make these just prior to serving because once you cut the avocado, it tends to darken after a while. If you want to make these ahead, see note at the end of the recipe.

You can use herring roe in place of the salmon roe but the latter has a superior flavor.






Yield: 14 deviled eggs

Ingredients
7 medium-sized, hard-boiled eggs
1 small, ripe avocado (about 200 g), flesh scooped out and roughly chopped
3 ½ Tbsp crème fraîche
1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice, freshly squeezed
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-1 ½ Tbsp salmon roe

Preparation
Peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise using a sharp knife (not serrated). Remove the egg yolks gently with the help of a teaspoon and place them into a medium-sized bowl. Add the roughly chopped avocado and mash together with a fork. Don't mash them completely but leave some bits of yolk and avocado to add texture to the dish.
Add the lemon or lime juice and a little sea salt and pepper to taste and mix well with the fork. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.


Take each egg white half and, using a teaspoon (or even a piping bag if you're comfortable using it), fill them with the egg yolk mixture. Top each egg half with the salmon roe and arrange the deviled eggs on a platter.

Serve immediately.

Note: If you want to make these ahead, prepare the egg yolk mixture without adding the avocado and place it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. Keep the egg white halves refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap as well. Just before serving, mash the avocado, add it to the egg yolk mixture and mix everything together with a fork.